J.P. Morgan to Receive Nasty Letter from Feds — Reuters

In an exclusive report from Reuters this morning, “people familiar with the situation” say that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will end its investigation into certain practices at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) by sending the bank a cease-and-desist order. That ought to sting.

Apparently J.P. Morgan’s missteps in monitoring its risks and its transactions were not as serious as those uncovered at HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) that cost the U.K.-based bank nearly $2 billion. HSBC and another British bank, Standard Chartered — which was fined $667 million — were cited for hiding transactions involving Iranian clients, and HSBC admitted to violations of the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act.

J.P. Morgan is not expected to be fined by the OCC, but the bank still faces an inquiry from the anti-money laundering Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Treasury Department.

The OCC action could be announced today, according to Reuters, or it may be pushed into next week.